scholarly journals Focus particles, secondary meanings, and Lexical Resource Semantics: The case of Japanese shika

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akio Hasegawa ◽  
Jean-Pierre Koenig
Keyword(s):  
Negative Polarity ◽  
Recent Proposal ◽  
Focus Particles ◽  
Polarity Items ◽  
Lexical Resource ◽  
Logical Negation ◽  
Secondary Meaning ◽  
Downward Entailing ◽  
Resource Semantics ◽  
Semantic Properties

Japanese has two exclusive particles ˋshika' and ˋdake'. Although traditionally, both particles were considered to be exclusive particles like ˋonly', a recent proposal claims that ˋshika' is an exceptive particle like ˋeveryone except' to account for the necessary co-occurrence of the negative suffix ˋna' and ˋshika'. We show that this negative suffix lacks two critical semantic properties of ordinary logical negation: It is not downward entailing, nor does it license negative polarity items. We show that both ˋshika' and ˋdake' are exclusive particles, but that ˋshika' encodes an additional secondary meaning. The negative suffix only contributes to the sentence's secondary meaning when it co-occurs with ˋshika'. We present an HPSG and LRS analysis that models the co-occurrence of ˋshika' and the negative suffix ˋna', and their contribution to the sentence's secondary meaning.

A constraint-based modeling of negative polarity items in result clause constructions in Romanian

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-168
Author(s):  
Monica-Mihaela Rizea ◽  
Manfred Sailer
Keyword(s):  
Negative Polarity ◽  
Negative Polarity Items ◽  
Polarity Items ◽  
Lexical Resource ◽  
Distributional Patterns ◽  
Semantics And Pragmatics ◽  
Constraint Based Modeling ◽  
Resource Semantics ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Representational Framework

Summary The paper discusses the occurrence of emphatic negative polarity items (NPIs) in high degree result clause constructions. We will identify four distributional patterns for Romanian emphatic NPIs. These will range from NPIs that only occur occasionally in result constructions to NPIs that are bound to such constructions and even do not show any truth-conditionally relevant semantic contribution. We reformulate a scalar, pragmatic theory of NPIs in a constraint-based, representational framework, Lexical Resource Semantics. We propose a scalar extension of a standard semantics of result clauses in order to capture the high degree, i.e. intensification readings. The constraint-based, representational perspective of this paper allows for an elegant modeling of the data: (i) We can capture the four distributional patterns as a lexical property of the discussed NPIs. (ii) The semantics and pragmatics of Romanian result clause constructions is accounted for by lexical properties of the result clause complementizers. (iii) A scalar analysis of emphatic NPIs can be applied in embedded clauses and even when the NPI itself does not contribute to the at-issue content of the overall utterance.

scholarly journals The Interpretation of Disjunction in the Scope of Dou in Child Mandarin

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shasha An ◽  
Peng Zhou ◽  
Stephen Crain
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Free Choice ◽  
Negative Polarity ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Recent Theory ◽  
Negative Polarity Items ◽  
Value Judgment ◽  
Polarity Items ◽  
Downward Entailing ◽  
The Right

A recent theory provides a unified cross-linguistic analysis of the interpretations that are assigned to expressions for disjunction, Negative Polarity Items, Free Choice Items, and the non-interrogative uses of wh-phrases in languages such as Mandarin Chinese. If this approach is on the right track, children should be expected to demonstrate similar patterns in the acquisition of these linguistic expressions. Previous research has found that, by age four, children have acquired the knowledge that both the existential indefinite renhe “any” and wh-words in Mandarin Chinese are interpreted as Negative Polarity Items when they are bound by downward entailing operators, but the same expressions are interpreted as Free Choice Items (with a conjunctive interpretation) when they are bound by deontic modals (Mandarin keyi) or by the Mandarin adverbial quantifier dou “all”. The present study extends this line of research to the Mandarin disjunction word huozhe. A Truth Value Judgment Task was used to investigate the possibility that disjunction phrases that are bound by the adverbial quantifier dou generate a conjunctive interpretation in the grammars of Mandarin-speaking 4-year-old children. The findings confirmed this prediction. We discuss the implications of the findings for linguistic theory and for language learnability.

Form and Meaning of (Indefinite) Pronouns

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olaf Koeneman ◽  
Hedde Zeijlstra
Keyword(s):  
Free Choice ◽  
Negative Polarity ◽  
Natural Languages ◽  
Morphological Form ◽  
Polarity Items ◽  
Semantic Function ◽  
Morphological Differences ◽  
Negative Indefinites ◽  
Semantic Properties ◽  
Indefinite Pronouns

The relation between the morphological form of a pronoun and its semantic function is not always transparent, and syncretism abounds in natural languages. In a language like English, for instance, three types of indefinite pronouns can be identified, often grouped in series: the some-series, the any-series, and the no-series. However, this does not mean that there are also three semantic functions for indefinite pronouns. Haspelmath (1997), in fact distinguishes nine functions. Closer inspection shows that these nine functions must be reduced to four main functions of indefinites, each with a number of subfunctions: (i) Negative Polarity Items; (ii) Free-Choice Items; (iii) negative indefinites; and (iv) positive or existential indefinites. These functions and subfunctions can be morphologically realized differently across languages, but don’t have to. In English, functions (i) and (ii), unlike (iii) and (iv), may morphologically group together, both expressed by the any-series. Where morphological correspondences between the kinds of functions that indefinites may express call for a classification, such classifications turn out to be semantically well motivated too. Similar observations can be made for definite pronouns, where it turns out that various functions, such as the first person inclusive/exclusive distinction or dual number, are sometimes, but not always morphologically distinguished, showing that these may be subfunctions of higher, more general functions. The question as to how to demarcate the landscape of indefinite and definite pronouns thus does not depend on semantic differences alone: Morphological differences are at least as much telling. The interplay between morphological and semantic properties can provide serious answers to how to define indefinites and the various forms and functions that these may take on.

scholarly journals SEMANTIC AND PRAGMATIC ASPECTS OF ENGLISH ANY- AND SLOVENE RANDOMNESS INDEFINITES

1970 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 39-55
Author(s):  
Kristina Gregorčič
Keyword(s):  
Free Choice ◽  
Negative Polarity ◽  
The Other ◽  
Negative Bias ◽  
Negative Polarity Items ◽  
Polarity Items ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Reference Corpus ◽  
Downward Entailing ◽  
Pragmatic Aspects

The present paper discusses semantic and pragmatic features of English any-indefinites, and Slovene bare and koli-indefinites. In the Slovene linguistic literature, both bare and koli-indefinites have been known as randomness pronouns. However, examples from the Slovene reference corpus Gigafida 2.0 show that these indefinites are not always interchangeable, as their mutual name might suggest. Koli-indefinites strongly resemble any-indefinites, which are negative polarity items: they seek downward entailing environments in which they can but need not be stressed, depending on whether their inherent even-operator is highlighted or not. What is more, both any- and koli-indefinites necessarily acquire stress and generate free-choice inferences in non-downward entailing modal contexts. Slovene bare indefinites, on the other hand, share only certain features of unstressed any-indefinites: they behave like existential quantifiers and express the speaker’s ignorance or indifference. Unlike the any-series, the bare series can be used in the scope of non-adversative predicates and cannot trigger negative bias in questions. This might suggest that Slovene bare indefinites do not contain an even-operator. What is more, they are unable to generate free-choice readings, which are typical of any- and koli-indefinites.

scholarly journals Representing scales: Degree result clauses and emphaticnegative polarity items in Romanian

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica-Mihaela Rizea ◽  
Manfred Sailer
Keyword(s):  
Distribution Pattern ◽  
Polarity Items ◽  
Semantic Account ◽  
Lexical Resource ◽  
Npi Licensing ◽  
Embedded Clauses ◽  
Resource Semantics ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Standard Semantic

The paper proposes a representational re-encoding of the scalar, pragmatic accounts of NPI licensing within the framework of Lexical Resource Semantics (LRS). The analysis focuses on a less researched distribution pattern: emphatic NPIs occurring in result clause constructions that receive an intensification reading. We will provide a scalar extension of a standard semantic account of result clauses to capture the high degree interpretations. Our investigation will also offer new insights on NPI licensing in embedded clauses. We will primarily consider Romanian data.

scholarly journals Braucht niemanden zu scheren: A survey of NPI licensing in German

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Richter ◽  
Jan-Philipp Soehn
Keyword(s):  
Negative Polarity ◽  
Negative Polarity Items ◽  
Polarity Items ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Npi Licensing ◽  
German Data ◽  
Semantic Properties

In this contribution we will argue that negative polarity is a collocational phenomenon that does not follow from other properties of the respective lexical elements. With German data as evidence, we will follow a proposal by van der Wouden and treat Negative Polarity Items (NPIs) as collocates which must be licensed by abstract semantic properties of their contexts. Using a collocation module for HPSG, which has been independently motivated for bound words and idioms, we will show how to restrict the occurrence of NPIs to legitimate environments, starting from the negativity hierarchy of licensing environments by Zwarts. Besides a more fine-grained semantic licenser hierarchy, we will establish syntactic licensing domains and general collocational restrictions of NPIs.

scholarly journals Spotting, collecting and documenting negative polarity items

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 931-952 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan-Philipp Soehn ◽  
Beata Trawiński ◽  
Timm Lichte
Keyword(s):  
Negative Polarity ◽  
Negative Polarity Items ◽  
Polarity Items

How Antisymmetric Is Syntax?

2003 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 516-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuji Takano
Keyword(s):  
Linear Order ◽  
Phrase Structure ◽  
Negative Polarity ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Other ◽  
Negative Polarity Items ◽  
Polarity Items ◽  
The Right

Since the emergence of Kayne's (1994) stimulating proposal for an antisymmetric theory of phrase structure and linear order, much work has been devoted to arguing for or against his theory as well as discussing its empirical predictions. As a result, for a number of phenomena involving rightward positioning, such as rightward adjuncts, heavy NP shift, extraposition, postverbal subjects, and postverbal constituents in OV languages, there now exist both an approach consistent with Kayne's theory (the antisymmetric approach) and another not consistent with it (the symmetric approach). In such a situation, it is often difficult to show on empirical grounds that one approach is superior to the other (see Rochemont and Culicover 1997). In what follows, I describe this situation with respect to two well-known phenomena in English: rightward positioning of adjuncts and heavy NP shift. For each of these phenomena, the symmetric and antisymmetric approaches have been proposed, and both approaches can correctly account for the data discussed in previous studies. Here, I examine the approaches from a novel point of view, showing that data involving the licensing of negative polarity items allow us to differentiate them and to decide which is the right one for each of the two empirical domains. Interestingly, the relevant facts lead to different conclusions for the two phenomena. The results have important implications for the antisymmetric view of syntax.

On the Subject of Negative Auxiliary Inversion

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances Blanchette ◽  
Chris Collins
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Negative Polarity ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Left Periphery ◽  
Negative Concord ◽  
Double Negation ◽  
Polarity Items ◽  
West Texas ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Scope Freezing

AbstractThis article presents a novel analysis ofNegative Auxiliary Inversion(NAI) constructions such asdidn't many people eat, in which a negated auxiliary appears in pre-subject position. NAI, found in varieties including Appalachian, African American, and West Texas English, has a word order identical to a yes/no question, but is pronounced and interpreted as a declarative. We propose that NAI subjects are negative DPs, and that the negation raises from the subject DP to adjoin to Fin (a functional head in the left periphery). Three properties of NAI motivate this analysis: (i) scope freezing effects, (ii) the various possible and impossible NAI subject types, and (iii) the incompatibility of NAI constructions with true Double-Negation interpretations. Implications for theories of Negative Concord, Negative Polarity Items, and the representation of negation are discussed.

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